1. The Multicultural Internship Program
@ Brooklyn Public Library
Louis Muñoz, Sept. 22, 2012

2. What is the Multicultural Internship Program?
Introduces high school
students from
different ethnic,
cultural, and linguistic
backgrounds
to the diverse
opportunities
available
to library
professionals.

3. OBJECTIVES of MIP:
1. Help increase the number of qualified professionals for
employment as librarians.
2. Give teens from diverse backgrounds exposure to &
experience in a range of LIS responsibilities & areas.
3. Connect teens to their communities.
4. Increase ethnic & linguistic diversity of BPL librarians to
reflect the borough’s diversity.
5. Better serve the needs and interests of Brooklyn’s
diverse populations.
6. Address issues faced by libraries of similar size & type.
7. Reflect a vision of change.

4. Genesis…
• Assessment/Focus Groups: Only 4 out of 22
teens had considered LIS as a career option.
• Idea that librarians deal mostly with books.
• Disconnect between activities rewarding to teens
and awareness of librarians being involved in
those kinds of activities.
• According to a 5-yr. ALA Spectrum survey,
“the single most predictive indicator for choosing
to enter a LIS program was prior experience
working in a library.”
(Loriene Roy et al., Bridging Boundaries to Create a New Workforce: A Survey of
Spectrum Scholarship Recipients, 1998-2003, American Library Association, 2006.)

5. Other influences on creation of MIP:
• Fairfax County (VA) Library’s IMLS-funded
An American Future program
• New York Hall of Science’s Career Ladder
(mentoring & recruitment program)
• Knowledge River, University of Arizona
• Study on Generation 1.5 students

6. Competitive
Selection
Process:
Total of
171 students
chosen from
across Brooklyn
for paid internship
for 200 service hours,
January - June.

8. Orientation Workshops:
• “Case of the Missing Fish: Customer Service at
Its Finest” (HR Office)
• “College Readiness for Young Adults”
(Business & Career Library)
• “Do You Speak My Language? Serving
Brooklyn’s Immigrants through Cultural
Awareness” (Multilingual Center)
• “Young Person’s Guide to Electronic Resources
at BPL” (Office of Collection Development)

11. School-Year Internship
Variety of General Projects, including:
• Assisted with language interpretation &
translation
• Provided tech support
• Created book displays
• Shadowed librarians and other staff and created
• Ran programs for kids and teens

14. School-Year Internship
Examples of Specific Projects:
• Chinese New Year Celebration
• Teen Tech Week Bingo
• Teen Tech Week Jeopardy
• Mehndi programs
• “Are You a Teen Looking for a Job?”
• Open Mic Night at Spring Creek
• Videos: “Why I Love My Library” &
“The True Story of Agatha Cunningham”
(Check them out on YouTube!!)

17. MIP Elective Workshops/
Training Activities
• MIP Book Club • Music Appreciation
• Brooklyn Open • Brooklyn Collection
• Central Library Tour • Today’s Teens/Tomorrow’s Techies
• A Night at the Improv! • ESOL & Pre-GED Registrations
• Career Readiness • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Chat Sessions • T4 Comic Book Club workshops
• Show Me How to Do That! • CPR To-Go Program
• MIP Mentor/Intern Get Together • Dweck Auditorium Programs
• Library Field Trips • GameSpace Workshops

18. Chat Session with Nick Higgins (PULSE graduate!!),
Correctional Services Librarian, NYPL

22. Summer Internships
General Projects:
“Front-line” & “behind-the-scenes" work
@:
-Languages & Literature & Youth Wing
-Office of Library Technology
-Collection Development
-Programs & Exhibitions
-Youth & Family Services
-Volunteer Services
-Brooklyn Collection

23. Summer Internships, continued:
Specific Projects:
• Represented BPL at NYC Digital Waves Youth
Media Festival & other events
• PowerUP! Business Plan Competition
• "Then and Now" photography project
• Booklists
• Website

25. Some Student Reflections:
• “My expectations have changed drastically. I thought that
I would only be dealing with books, but now I know that I
can give my opinion and exchange ideas of what I would
like to see in the library.”
• “My expectations of the library is no longer just about it
being a place where you check out books and use the
computer. I’ve learned that the library offers many
opportunities for children, adults who live here, and
people who are new to the country.”
• “I did not expect to actually become interested in the
librarian profession.”
• “It’s a hard job. The librarians do more than I have
expected them to do. They do a lot for the community,
which is very good.”

26. Benefits & Reasons for
Becoming Mentors:
• Working with teens/wanting to be positive role models:
“I’m really interested in engaging teens in the library in
ways that place them in more active, creative roles.”
• Paying it forward:
“I want to be a mentor because I started here as a trainee
and know first-hand the importance of a good internship
experience.”
• Hope to develop new skills themselves:
“Professionally, [I hope to] develop leadership skills and
build confidence [and] get a fresh perspective from the
mentee.”

27. Additional Benefits & Reasons:
• Useful extra help at their branches:
“We hope our branch will benefit from the help of an
enthusiastic intern, who will have a chance to assist in
after-school programming.”
• Chance to present librarianship as an attractive career:
“I like the idea of recruiting our next generation of
librarians now. I think that the skills the interns get in the
library will help them in any career path they choose.”
• Finally:
“The obvious benefits for the intern, community, and the
library make this an opportunity I could not miss
exploring.”

29. “Early Days,” but…
• 10 MIP alumni have become part-time staffers.
(Would be more, but…)
• About 10 have joined the T4 volunteer program
(Today’s Teens, Tomorrow’s Techies).
• Many MIP alumni continue to be active at BPL,
i.e. Great American Book Drive & author chats.
(Note: Because of time constraints, ask us later
about OBE (Outcome-Based Evaluations)).

30. Successes and Unexpected Lessons
• Help the mentors!
• Develop a supportive team
• Being the “other adult” in the
teens’ lives
• Advocates for the library
• Confidence and leadership
building
• Bonding between mentors and
interns
• Boost of energy to Brooklyn
Public Library
• What’s possible with a captive
audience
• The MIP Map blog and wiki
(“SELL IT!!)

33. This project was made possible by a grant
from the U.S. Institute of Museum and
Library Services, which is the primary
source of federal support for the nation's
122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The
Institute's mission is to create strong
libraries and museums that connect
people to information and ideas.

34. So many people to thank,
Soooo little time,…